There is a busy intersection near my house that has a Walmart among other stores and restaurants. The easiest way to get to Walmart is to make a U-turn and turn into the parking lot. This saves time from turning left and driving further to get to the other end of the parking lot. It is assumed that people make U-turns at this intersection. I know this because people waiting at the stoplight on the cross street face a “NO TURN ON RED” sign and also have a green arrow. This traffic light controls for the people making U-turns to get to Walmart.

Have you ever noticed when you are in an unfamiliar area and realize you have to make a U-turn that there are signs posted “NO U-TURN?” Why is that? In those cases, I say the U-turn isn’t your fault. The traffic engineers screwed up, and so many people have to make U-turns that the engineers try to fix the screw-up by forcing people to continue going in the wrong direction.

The airport is the only place where I see someone walking stridently in one direction with seemingly a sole purpose and then five minutes later I see that same person walking stridently in the exact opposite direction. Maybe the first walk was to the gate to verify that the flight is correct. Maybe the second walk was a quick trip to the restroom to evacuate bladder/bowels or to a cafe to fill bladder/bowels. These U-turns aren’t necessarily mistakes.

When you make a U-turn, maybe it’s your mistake and maybe it isn’t. The important thing is to realize that you were going in the wrong direction and now you have corrected course.